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Foreword

This is the eleventh volume of The Open Page, a theatre journal which originally complemented the Magdalena Project's Newsletter, the last issue of which was published in Autumn 1999. The Newsletter gave an opportunity for the sharing of accessible information and documentation, and its function has been replaced by a website (www.themagdalenaproject.org).

The Open Page was founded in the belief that there needed to be a more substantial space for women theatre practitioners to report on their work and express their thoughts, feelings and analysis of theatre, as a means of building their own memory and a critical perspective within theatre history. As the journal has grown so too has the necessity to document and historicise women's work in theatre: we have to leave behind traces of our work for ourselves and for future generations.

Women's work in theatre has until very recently been poorly documented or neglected. The Open Page does not come from one ideological position through which the choice of what is or is not published is filtered, nor does it insist upon an adherence to theoretical perspectives which can inhibit the expression of a plurality of ideas and experiences. Rather The Open Page seeks to give space to many different voices, some of them dissident, others not, keeping a balance among contributions from experienced authors and scholars, practitioners needing to put their thoughts on paper and first time writers more accustomed to expressing themselves through performance.

The eleventh issue of The Open Page has the theme Theatre - Women - Practice and issue twelve will focus on Theatre - Women - Song. In collecting articles we have given great importance to international diversity although the choice of printing in one language forces us to confront the problems of translation. As far as possible we have tried to be faithful to the original intention of the texts even if this has meant showing disrespect for English scholarly form or grammar. The gender form chosen by the author for the word actress-actor-female performer has been respected.

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Editorial

In the quest for the appropriation of language in the making of our own history as women working in theatre, this issue of The Open Page asked for articles on practice to encourage authors to write about the process step by step, about technique and methods, with real descriptions of how performances, training and projects are made; and to do this as concretely as possible, even though it is difficult to find a terminology that can be shared beyond the rehearsal room and the people who take part in the immediate creative process. The result is very satisfying: a significant collection of information that can be helpful to others, a generous sharing of a unique experience which can be used as advice or points of reference for other work processes even though they may strive for a totally different result, meaning or aesthetic. With this issue, The Open Page has achieved a milestone, a tangible and solid manifestation of women's work in theatre with the longest and greatest number of articles collected in one issue since 1994. We feel we have attained our aim of getting women of multiple theatres, ages, nationalities, cultural and aesthetical backgrounds to write.

In the articles on practice it is interesting to notice how the same sense of adventure, doubt, and the pursuit of solutions with a gradual but concrete approach, is found amongst young and experienced practitioners. It is encouraging that so many women directors can clearly articulate what guides them in their dramaturgy and work with actors, and that performers, who firmly resolve in the first person the directions of their work, can select from their experience a practicethat can be understood. The political dedication, social commitment and passionate motivations of some authors are equivalent to others' determination to choose their own path and masters, to their dedication to detail and the desire to challenge and influence through teaching. Although many authors belong to a tradition of theatre that can generally be called physical, the centrality of working with, creating, writing, putting music to, and choosing text, is apparent as a through line for the whole issue.

The concreteness of this issue provokes in The Open Page a need for future seminar meetings to debate and consider themes even more profoundly before eventual publication, and a desire to make expeditions to those parts of the world of which we lack a deeper personal knowledge as we prepare the next issue, Theatre - Women - Song: song as melody, pulse, life passage, celebration, company and poetry.

Scores and edits, structures and frameworks, improvisation and repetition, inspiration and perspiration, mistakes and circumstances are recurrent elements of theatre practice, which are described here also with a sense of humour and self-criticism, as well as with dedication, responsibility, obsession and zeal. Practising we achieve experience and know-how. Then comes the need to change and start a new adventure. It is on this new journey that the editorial board are going to take The Open Page.

Julia Varley
Holstebro, March 2006

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